Times Before The Tattoo
by Neon Ratchet
Summary: As Jacuzzi sits in the tattoo parlour, he thinks back on his life with Nice, through the good times... and the bad.


_1926..._

"You sure about this?"

Jacuzzi gulped at the question. The tattoo artist was standing to his side holding the needle gun ready. He looked almost indifferent to the fact that he was going to permanently mark another person's skin.

Jacuzzi himself was feeling the all too familiar hollow, churning feeling of fear in his belly and the sting in his eyes that warned him tears were coming. He had been feeling both ever since he walked into the parlour. It was the first time he had ever set foot in such a place. The first time he had even considered setting foot in such a place. If it was a different situation, he could already imagine Nice's reaction; the little giggle she always did when he said something that she found funny – whether he meant it to be or not.

 _A tattoo? You and needles? C'mon Jacuzzi! I know you..._

And she had known him for a while.

As he let his mind drift, he couldn't remember a point in his past where she wasn't there...

* * *

 _Then..._

 _Why you sittin' on your own? C'mon, let's do somethin'. I'm Nice, what's your name?_

It was no time after they first met as kids in school that Nice took Jacuzzi by the hand and led him into all sorts of playground adventures. She would do anything with no fear, be it climbing the biggest tree in the schoolyard, mouthing off to the teachers or as she entered double figures, developing a love of explosions and making cherry bombs more and more powerful. She did it all with a glint in her eye that made Jacuzzi think she relished the thrill of the danger. Jacuzzi was the worrier. Always thinking the worst thing that could happen would happen. That they would be caught and separated. That he would lose her.

It was Jacuzzi's biggest fear.

He had a lot of fears and boy did Jacuzzi Splot know it, but the possibility of losing Nice was the one that was the very part of his being. The one he knew he would always have, even if he conquered every other one. He knew it as sure as he knew of his need to breathe.

She soon knew it too.

It was down to some teacher who was a stickler for discipline and was quick to use his cane. Most of the kids got the feeling he just liked hurting people. Jacuzzi and the others hated him and felt sorry for those who felt his wrath, but they all kept their heads down and hoped they weren't brought to the front of the class. Nice couldn't let it go. She wanted to get even by putting one of her bigger cherry bombs into the teacher's drawer and put the fear of God into him.

 _C'mon Jacuzzi. The big jerk deserves it. Why shouldn't we do this?_

He told her exactly. The tears spilled as fast as his words did as he said that she could be caught and expelled, or maybe even jailed and he would be alone.  
He wouldn't have his best friend around…

And then the tears and the words really started pouring.

He said everything he had wanted to say since he was old enough to know what love and crushes were and was sure what he felt for her were the same. She stayed quiet until he finally ran out of words to say and looked down so she wouldn't see him crying. It was a little late to do so, but it seemed like a good idea. Then she took his head in her hands and raised his face to meet her own.

 _Aw Jacuzzi. My little white knight. Don't you just know how to make a girl feel special._

The moment when she smiled and just rested her forehead against his own quickly became the best moment of Jacuzzi Splot's young life...

The two were inseparable as the years passed.

Jacuzzi liked to call it courting. He'd seen it called that in some penny paper and he liked the sound of it. Nice claimed she found it schmaltzy, but she liked holding hands, getting the best cheap flowers – it made a girl feel special. There were times where she got… frustrated. A kiss didn't seem a big deal to her, but it was the one thing she could never make Jacuzzi fold his hand on. He wanted that first kiss to be special. To have earned it.

He figured when he got her a ring to really show how much he wanted her to be his girl. _Then_ he would have earned it.

It was the reason he joined his first bootlegging gang. He needed money and when it came to legal ways, there weren't many places hiring. He always figured he would make money quick, buy the ring and get out quick. It would never quite work out that way. Jacuzzi would always do OK to the point there was always some cash in his pocket, but the big score just never came his way. His run of near misses became funny to Nice, who would always tease him the same way.

 _Y'know Jacuzzi, if I didn't know better, I'd be thinkin' you didn't wanna make an honest girl outta me._

He never worried too much though. He always figured that things would go better the next day. Or the day after...

"There's been an accident."

Four simple words said by a friend that changed Jacuzzi's world forever.

Everything about where he had been and what he was doing was forgotten forever when when he heard what had happened. His journey to the hospital was a blur, like he got there just by willing it. He avoided the nurses, so he didn't have to answer questions about family and found Nice's room on his own. Two doctors were outside, and Jacuzzi could hear them talking about the burns on her body and face; the eye that took the blast full force and was beyond repair. They muttered about how they wouldn't wish the pain the poor girl must be feeling on their worst enemy…

Jacuzzi had waited until the doctors continued their rounds then sneaked into her room and saw her, looking like she was asleep. His heart broke when he saw the bandages on her arms and the side of her face. He stood there quietly, praying to a God he wasn't sure existed until Nice's good eye flickered open.

He couldn't lie to her. He repeated what he heard the doctors said. He hesitated when she asked for a mirror but agreed and 'borrowed' one from some lady's handbag. He had been numb up to that point. It was only when he heard Nice's gasp of horror followed by sobs that shook her body, did he start crying. His own body-racking sobs followed when Nice turned away from him…

 _Go away Jacuzzi. Leave me alone._

Jacuzzi did, even though he hated having to and leaving Nice in that way. The girl who once would spit in the wind for no other reason than she could was scared, vulnerable and hurting. He would visit every day, telling her that nothing had changed for him. She was still his girl and he still wanted to buy her the ring. Every time he told her, she would just stare at him with her good eye, that glint that he had grown to love now dormant. She would always reply the same way; her voice barely a whisper, but still loud enough for Jacuzzi to hear the resignation in her voice…

 _You're just saying that Jacuzzi. You don't mean it…  
_

That one last time was too much for Jacuzzi. He was ready to do anything to make Nice feel better, but he wasn't sure what. It was only when he rubbed the side of his face did he have an idea of what would make her feel better…

* * *

"Kid. Are you sure? Once I put it on it ain't coming off."

Jacuzzi looked at the needle gun once more, then doubled down on his choice. He ignored the churning in his gut and laid back in the chair, then met the artist's gaze.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said. "Do it."

The artist shrugged his shoulders and brought the gun down to the side of Jacuzzi's face. The needle hurt and didn't stop hurting until long after the artist had finished the job, but Jacuzzi didn't yell out and didn't cry. He may not be the bravest guy, but he could take anything if it meant he could see Nice be his Nice again.

Nice was his girl and it didn't matter how they looked. He knew that if they were together, they would be fine.

She would know too. Just as soon as he told her…


End file.
